President Donald Trump fires Rex Tillerson as secretary of state, replaces him with CIA Director Mike Pompeo

President Trump announced Tuesday that Mike Pompeo, now the C.I.A. director, will become secretary of state, replacing Rex W. Tillerson, ending his short but tumultuous tenure as the nation’s chief diplomat.

US SECRETARY of State Rex Tillerson ousted just a day after leaving Kenya; Trump replaces him with CIA Director Mike Pompeo

Mr. Tillerson found himself repeatedly at odds with Mr. Trump on a variety of key foreign policy issues. The president announced his decision via Twitter. A senior administration official said that Mr. Trump made the decision to replace Mr. Tillerson now in order to have a new team in place in advance of the upcoming talks with Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader he plans to meet by May, and various ongoing trade negotiations. Mr. Trump said he will replace Mr. Pompeo with the deputy C.I.A. director, Gina Haspel, making her the first woman to head the spy agency. Both she and Mr. Pompeo would need confirmation by the Senate to take the positions.